NATO summit opens with Trump at center stage
World leaders arrived in Ankara, Turkey, for this week’s NATO summit, where a light official agenda is being overshadowed by side deals that could hand US President Donald Trump some early wins. During his meeting with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, Trump announced plans to lift sanctions imposed on Turkey in 2020 and said he would reconsider Ankara’s participation in the F-35 fighter jet program, which would give the US more influence over the strategically important NATO member. Canada also agreed to purchase 12 German-built submarines as part of a push to raise defense spending to 5% of GDP by 2035. Trump has repeatedly suggested the US could leave the alliance and long pushed NATO allies to spend more on defense. The summit hasn’t been without friction, however: Trump took another swipe at Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, much to the chagrin of other world leaders.
Farage resigns from his seat – and says he’ll re-run for it
Amid a furor over undeclared donations from major benefactors, Reform UK leader Nigel Farage announced on Tuesday that he would resign from his seat in Clacton-on-Sea in southeast England. But, he’ll re-run for it. Farage has faced scrutiny after crypto billionaire Christopher Harborne reportedly gifted him $5 million in 2024 right before he decided to run for the Clacton seat, and a convicted fraudster funded the operations of Reform UK in various ways, according to a new report. “I’ve done nothing wrong,” said Farage, whose party leads polls for the next UK election. So why is the hard-right leader resigning and re-running? It’s perhaps a bid to boost his legitimacy, with the help of Clacton voters.
Indonesian leader clashes with “Dragons”
Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto is escalating a pressure campaign to get the country’s richest families to share more of their wealth. Earlier this year, Subianto, a tough-talking populist who won power in 2024, held a late-night meeting with top tycoons, telling them to do more to address inequality. Indonesia is Southeast Asia’s largest and fastest-growing economy, but wealth is highly concentrated. There is an ethnic dimension too: the country’s richest elites are known as “dragons,” a reference to their ethnic Chinese heritage. Earlier this year, Jakarta saw street protests over inflation and bloated state spending. But Subianto’s pressure, which could include going after tycoons over accusations of tax evasion and monopolistic behavior, carries risks: the country’s richest families control key sectors of the economy and could push back by delaying investments or taking money out of the country. Mess with the dragons, get the flames?
